Excel Peer Tutor: teach classmates

01

Before this course, and what a peer tutor does

In simple words

A good swimming coach does not swim the race for you. They watch from the side, ask what felt wrong, and show you one better stroke. An Excel peer tutor is the same: the classmate keeps the keyboard and does the work, and you help them see what to fix.

Before this course: Excel for Class Projects: PivotTables and analysis (course 13.2.3). You should already be able to build clean Excel tables, use COUNTIFS and SUMIFS to check answers, build PivotTables with slicers and PivotCharts, refresh them and explain your findings. At Expert level you stop being only a user. You help other people get their workbooks right, and you teach them to check their own work.

Key facts

A peer tutor has three jobs (a widely taught model for peer helpers):

Job	What it looks like in Excel
Ask	"What should this cell show? Which cells does the formula use?"
Show	A short demo on your own practice file, for example how Trace Precedents works
Refer	Sending a question about marks, deadlines or rules to the teacher

Your limits: you do not type answers into a classmate's graded workbook, you do not grade their work, and you follow your teacher's rules on what help is allowed. When you are not sure, ask the teacher first.
Practise on copies or made-up data. A classmate's file belongs to them; do not share it with anyone else.
Certification-level view. Microsoft's own page for Exam MO-211: Microsoft Excel Expert (Microsoft 365 Apps) says it leads to the Microsoft Office Specialist: Excel Expert (Microsoft 365 Apps) certification and measures four areas:

Area (Microsoft Learn)	Weight
Manage workbook options and settings	10–15%
Manage and format data	30–35%
Create advanced formulas and macros	25–30%
Manage advanced charts and tables	25–30%

Microsoft says candidates should have about 150 hours of instruction and hands-on experience, and that the assessment gives 50 minutes. The price depends on the country where the exam is taken. This course does not award that certification; it builds the review and teaching skills around it.

Step by step

Open your final project from course 13.2.3 and check that you can still build a PivotTable, a slicer and a SUMIFS check without notes. Redo any lesson you cannot.
Write your "tutor promise" in three lines: what you will do (ask, show, refer) and what you will not do (type their answers, grade them, break the teacher's rules).
Make a practice folder with a made-up workbook you can use for demos.
Read the four MO-211 areas above and tick the ones you have already practised in courses 13.2 to 13.2.3.
Find one classmate who agrees to be your practice learner for this course.
Check: you have a tutor promise, a practice folder and a practice learner.

Watch on YouTube

The do's and don'ts of peer tutoringAimee Smith · YouTube · youtube.com

Videos by other creators on YouTube, for reference. They are not made by or affiliated with The Future Market.

LESSON 01Before this course, and what a peer tutor does

LESSON 01 / ANIMATED LESSON / AI VOICE00:00 / 01:00

Voice

Read the video script

[Host] "A good coach does not swim the race for you. A good Excel tutor does not type your answers."
[Text on screen: Ask · Show · Refer] "Three jobs: ask questions, show a short demo on your own file, and refer rules questions to the teacher."
[Screen: Microsoft Learn page for Exam MO-211] "Microsoft's Excel Expert exam covers four areas, from workbook settings to advanced charts and tables."
[Host] "Your goal is not to be the fastest in the room. It is to make everyone else better at checking their own work."

Try it now

Write your tutor promise and show it to your teacher. Ask them one question: "What kind of help is allowed on graded Excel work in this class?" Write down the answer.

ClaudeStuck? Copy a ready-made prompt for Claude

Copy this, open Claude, paste it, and Claude will walk you through the lesson step by step.

For a grown-up: Claude is for adults (18+). Copy this, paste it into Claude, and use the answer to explain the lesson to your child.

I'm learning "Excel Peer Tutor: teach classmates" on The Future Market. Lesson 1: "Before this course, and what a peer tutor does".

What the lesson teaches:
- A peer tutor has three jobs (a widely taught model for peer helpers):
- Job - What it looks like in Excel
- Ask - "What should this cell show? Which cells does the formula use?"
- Show - A short demo on your own practice file, for example how Trace Precedents works
- Refer - Sending a question about marks, deadlines or rules to the teacher
- Your limits: you do not type answers into a classmate's graded workbook, you do not grade their work, and you follow your teacher's rules on what help is allowed. When you are not sure, ask the teacher first.
- Practise on copies or made-up data. A classmate's file belongs to them; do not share it with anyone else.

The exercise I'm working on:
Write your tutor promise and show it to your teacher. Ask them one question: "What kind of help is allowed on graded Excel work in this class?" Write down the answer.

I'm stuck. Please:
1. Explain the main idea in plain, simple words with one everyday example.
2. Walk me through the exercise one small step at a time. Ask me what I've done so far before giving the next step.
3. Don't just give me the final answer. Help me do it myself, and check my work when I share it.

I'm a parent helping my child (about 8 years old) with a lesson called "Before this course, and what a peer tutor does" from the course "Excel Peer Tutor: teach classmates".

Here's what the lesson says:
A good swimming coach does not swim the race for you. They watch from the side, ask what felt wrong, and show you one better stroke. An Excel peer tutor is the same: the classmate keeps the keyboard and does the work, and you help them see what to fix.

The activity:
Write your tutor promise and show it to your teacher. Ask them one question: "What kind of help is allowed on graded Excel work in this class?" Write down the answer.

Please explain this so an 8-year-old understands: short sentences, a fun everyday example, and no hard words.
Then give me 3 simple questions I can ask my child to check they understood, and a way to do the activity together, one tiny step at a time.

Open Claude

Sources

Microsoft Learn, Exam MO-211: Microsoft Excel Expert (Microsoft 365 Apps): learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/certifications/exams/mo-211/
Microsoft Learn, Microsoft Office Specialist: Excel Expert (Microsoft 365 Apps): learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/certifications/mos-excel-expert-

My notes

I learned this

02